Airfix Curtis Tomahawk II

[Mutley]

I started a P40 a while ago, and it went terribly wrong, so I binned it, and bought one of Airfixs starter sets. Am still feeling my way back in, and I thought it would be a simple enough model to try my hand out on, and practice minor fixes if needed.

Although different marques, I'm using The Fighter Collections P-40F "Lee's Hope" as a painting guide, and will be shown in flight for a change



Cockpit and pilot ready, and attached to the assembled wings. Problem is, the pilot doesn't fit into the seat



Onto the body, and the joint between the body and wings left a step,

so a little (ok felt like a lot) of filing got the wingroot looking better


Although, during sanding I've managed to knock one of the moulded guns. A bit of glue and a bend back had it back in alignment.

Managed to apply the first coat today, and while I'm happy with the coverage, the sand on the TFCs P40 is a lot more yellowy. Will see what it looks like when the brown is applied

Edited by Mutley on Saturday 24th January 20:28

[Mutley]

Cheers Doc, missed that in the 109 thread. As you can see, the pilot sits quite low now, so hoping the canopy will fit, though I can't find the damn thing at the moment, seems to have escaped the parts pot.

[Mutley]

I demasked (is that a real word?) and the masking has worked, kind of. It would seem I hadn't checked the tape was fully tight to the model, and the brown has seeped under and along the odd panel line. Time to touch it up, though I think by hand, as also the brown has some rather straight edges.



Rookie errors and learning curve. One decade I'll nearly be half as good as Doc

[Mutley]

I have, but I'd taped up before I remembered it. I now wish I'd stripped it all back and restarted

[Mutley]

dr_gn said:

Why not use rolls of blu-tac slightly outside the dark brown bits and overspray it? Obviously mask the remainder of yellow. It would work, just mist the brown ob untul the jagged edges disappear.

Thanks Doc, will try that.
This is a learning build, so knowing how to fix my cockups is part of it.

[Mutley]

Well, remasking with blu-tac worked, but in part I seem to have ended up with a slightly lighter border. Another attempt will be made to darken the borders next weekend, when my heating has been repaired!

And I seem to have lost the other wing gun! am thinking I could drill into the wing a little to create a mount, and stretch some sprue over heat to remake the small guns. Not having done this before, I presume held over a candle and gently pulled?

[Mutley]

dr_gn said:

The edges on the camo look a bit hard for the blu-tac method of masking (unless that's what you wanted)? This is the size of roll I use on a 1:72 model requiring feathered-edge camo (on an ancestor of your Tomahawk):



It's easier with an airbrush to angle the spray to be perpendicular, but it should still be possible to get a decent rsult with a spray can.

Doc, your early Curtis is inspiring, but I haven't used that method for the leading edges, just taped it up.

Am still learning the airbrush.

jamieduff1981 said:

If for whatever reason you need to mask with tape but are worried about bleeding, then a quick flash over with the same colour you just masked will ensure the bleed is, erm, the same colour. That will seal the masking and you can carry on.

This method is not infallable either though and is much more controllable with a dual action airbrush.

What masking tape are you using?

I erroneously used some decorating tape cut into shape. It's here I'm wondering if that was the cause of the bleeding, and yes, did a re-mask of the areas and covered the errors.

Am just waiting for a replacement canopy and I can continue. But while I wait I've had the Vallejo acrylic RAF Desert pack arrive, and I'm sorely tempted to strip the paint back and start again.

As always, grateful for your comments

[Mutley]

Time for an update, obtained a vacform canopy, and tried to work with it. Not overly happy with the result, but I can show with the canopy slightly open (probably not accurate with reality) Should have gone with getting a replacement from Airfix.

Varnish and markings to be done

[Mutley]

Finaly finished. I was getting to a point of wondering if I would ever get back to the build. I did enjoy this build, and I think if I were to build one again, I would select a later marque



Things I have learnt the hard way, (sometimes that is the only way to learn)
1. Mask properly
2. Prime for acrylics
3. Don't lose things like the canopy (found after I replaced it)
4. be careful with things that stick out (ie the guns)

anything else?

Edited by Mutley on Sunday 29th March 22:06

[Mutley]

Eric, your P-40 looks great, cables/rigging is something I want to learn

dr_gn said:

I think for an inexperienced modeller, it is really a very good effort. If I'm honest, yes, the canopy does spoil it quite a bit, but I don't think you should change it. Compare it with your next build and hopefully you'll see yourself progressing. Yes, inevitably the time you think you are saving by taking short cuts (maybe masking, or not waiting for a new canopy in your case?), is almost always lost re-doing things.

For me the key things that can make a good model into a great model (obviously apart from mastering basic building and finishing techiques) are:

1) How well transparent parts & framing appears.

2) How well machined or metallic parts such as guns, pitot tubes and u/c legs are represented.

3) Surface detail fidelity.

Any of those things done badly show up like a sore thumb. If you can perfect them, then you're laughing.

I recently bought my son an old Matchbox Skyservant (the build thread is on this forum). I chose that model for him partly due to the simple windscreen, which needed very little masking. Luckily he's chosen a Matchbox Northrop F5, and F-104 Starfigter for his next builds - neither of which have complex canopy masking.

Doc, thanks for your comments, appreciate the time taken to make them. I admit I was never happy with the replacement canopy, and finding the replacement after finishing was a bit of a kick. But never mind. Agree that errors stand out, just need to not make them, and yes, the P40 will be kept as a lesson.

I followed your Skyservant build, and your son has made a lovely plane, all credit to him - and you - for the build.

I know I'll get there with my builds, slowly and with patience, I just have to set reasnable progress steps. I can't be making Doc models in my first year of building